{"id":166996,"date":"2026-02-06T18:12:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T18:12:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/166996\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T18:12:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T18:12:21","slug":"the-underdog-story-of-san-franciscos-first-ever-puppy-bowl-competitor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/166996\/","title":{"rendered":"The underdog story of San Francisco’s first-ever Puppy Bowl competitor"},"content":{"rendered":"

While the 49ers fell short of the \u201cQuest for Six<\/a>\u201d this year, San Francisco will still be represented on the field this Super Bowl Sunday. But this player\u2019s stats are a bit unusual: weighing in at less than 10 pounds and standing under 12 inches tall, Foggy, a 3-month-old, black-and-white puppy, is making history as the first competitor from the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals<\/a> to appear at the Puppy Bowl.<\/p>\n

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Airing on Animal Planet and other channels at 11 a.m., Puppy Bowl 22 will feature Foggy decked out in an orange bandana, representing Team Ruff.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The event, which started off as a joke<\/a>, has become a cultural phenomenon. Last year, Animal Planet executives told People the Puppy Bowl counterprogramming was inspired by the seasonal, crackling Yule Log<\/a> on television and launched in 2005<\/a> with a shoestring budget of $88,000. These days, the show brings in very serious numbers \u2014 Puppy Bowl 21 drew 12.8 million viewers<\/a>, making it the day\u2019s No. 1 most-watched non-sports cable show.<\/p>\n

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\"Foggy,<\/p>\n

Foggy, a rescue puppy representing the San Francisco SPCA at the Puppy Bowl, plays on an outdoor field for the SFSPCA on Feb. 3, 2026.<\/p>\n

Douglas Zimmerman\/SFGATE<\/p>\n

Central California roots<\/p>\n

Foggy\u2019s journey to the arena started in the Central Valley, where she was found wandering the streets of Fresno and taken to a local shelter before being transferred to San Francisco.<\/p>\n

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Rob Lightner, director of adoptions at the San Francisco SPCA, and his husband, Gordon Vassallo, fostered the spotted, floppy-eared pup. Training her for the big game was a family effort \u2014 with their three kids handling the bulk of the prep.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe have so many toys, and they would have them out, they would go on opposite ends of the room, call her over with the toys, try to get her to make, you know, make the touchdown,\u201d\u00a0Lightner said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe foster experience was, honestly, it was so enjoyable and so easy,\u201d Vassallo said. \u201c… It was so rewarding watching her personality come out from this shy little cub to this very pro-social dog who was like everyone\u2019s friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Rob<\/p>\n

Rob Lightner, director of adoptions at the San Francisco SPCA, and his husband Gordon Vassallo hold Foggy, a rescue puppy they fostered, at the SFSPCA on Feb. 3, 2026. Foggy will represent the San Francisco SPCA at the Puppy Bowl this year.<\/p>\n

Douglas Zimmerman\/SFGATE<\/p>\n

Fortunately, she still gets to be in their lives. Vassallo\u2019s parents met and fell in love with Foggy, who now lives with them on 2 acres in the Sacramento area. \u201cThey\u2019re her forever family and she \u2014 and it\u2019s so nice that she gets to still be part of our family,\u201d\u00a0Lightner said.<\/p>\n

The show rundown<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s broadcast is bigger than ever, featuring 150 rescue puppies from 72 shelters<\/a> around the United States, Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands. For the first time ever it\u2019s also not just puppies being featured: 15 special needs dogs will be competing, as will senior dogs on Team Goldies and Team Oldies during the halftime show.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity for them to highlight the range of dogs that are out there in shelters that are looking for homes,\u201d Lightner said. \u201cYou know, there\u2019s a dog for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

And fans of the Kitty Halftime Show need not fret, as felines will be featured as well, organizers confirmed.<\/p>\n

\"Foggy,<\/p>\n

Foggy, a rescue puppy representing the San Francisco SPCA at the Puppy Bowl, plays on an outdoor field for the SFSPCA on Feb. 3, 2026.<\/p>\n

Douglas Zimmerman\/SFGATE<\/p>\n

To get the distracted stars to comply, the production team deploys a number of creative tactics, including swapping out toys every 20 minutes and smearing peanut butter on camera lenses. In order to capture the most eye-achingly cute moments, cameras are also placed under glass water bowls. \u201cShe was really obsessed with going back and drinking water \u2026 she shoved her whole face in the water at one point,\u201d said Lightner of Foggy\u2019s scene-stealing antics.<\/p>\n

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Unlike the actual Super Bowl, the Puppy Bowl is pre-recorded to allow ample time for editing. Filming took place in October at the Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls, New York, where the event has been recorded for the past few years. But don\u2019t expect to get any spoilers from Foggy, as the now 7-month-old puppy is under a strict nondisclosure agreement about the outcome of the game.<\/p>\n

\"Foggy,<\/p>\n

Foggy, a rescue puppy representing the San Francisco SPCA at the Puppy Bowl, scratches her ear\u00a0on Feb. 3, 2026.<\/p>\n

Douglas Zimmerman\/SFGATE<\/p>\n

The Puppy Bowl has become a highlight for Glens Falls, which anticipates the annual arrival of the canine competitors. \u201cI was going around the community with her, and people were like, \u2018Oh, it\u2019s Puppy Bowl season, I\u2019m so excited,\u2019\u201d Lightner said. It was a similar scene at the hotel, with fans eager to greet the cuddly stars.<\/p>\n

To celebrate the event, San Francisco SPCA is running a Name Your Price adoption special<\/a>\u00a0through\u00a0Feb. 8\u00a0\u2014 puppy fees are typically $400, adult fees are $175. \u201cWe don\u2019t want price to be the barrier for someone to bring an animal into their lives, if they have the love,\u201d Lightner said.<\/p>\n

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\"Foggy,<\/p>\n

Foggy, a rescue puppy representing the San Francisco SPCA at the Puppy Bowl, plays on an outdoor field for the SFSPCA on Feb. 3, 2026.<\/p>\n

Douglas Zimmerman\/SFGATE<\/p>\n

On Puppy Bowl Sunday, some of the shelter staff plan to hold a watch party at the Battery in San Francisco, where something aside from the winning team will be broadcast \u2014 all the contestants took DNA tests and their breeds will be revealed for the first time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While the 49ers fell short of the \u201cQuest for Six\u201d this year, San Francisco will still be represented…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":166997,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[101,103,102,104,106,105,1693,2225],"class_list":{"0":"post-166996","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-san-francisco","9":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","10":"tag-san-francisco-news","11":"tag-sf","12":"tag-sf-headlines","13":"tag-sf-news","14":"tag-sfglocal","15":"tag-sfgsports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166996"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166996\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}